*Mandani Supports Hamas, Hates America, Netanyahu Fires Back
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani says he’s still weighing whether he can arrest Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter is scheduled to visit the Big Apple in September this year.
Hizzoner, a socialist Democrat who has faced heat for his anti-Israel rhetoric, is in “active conversation” with authorities ahead of Netanyahu’s trip to Manhattan for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
Mamdani is a Muslim of Indian descent with his father, prominent academic Mahmood Mamdani, being a Gujarati Muslim.
Mamdani has openly embraced his faith, and made history as the first Muslim mayor of New York City, even taking his oath of office on a historical Quran.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in the Hague,” Mamdani told The New York Times.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani added.
“And what you will find is, that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Mamdani said he wasn’t sure if he had the authority to order the New York Police Department (NYPD) to cuff Netanyahu, but that he would act as aggressively as the law would allow.
The mayor is in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department over the matter, he said.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” said Mamdani.
The mayor has vowed numerous times to arrest Netanyahu if he dares set foot in New York City.
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani vowed to use the NYPD to arrest the PM., citing the International Criminal Court’s 2024 arrest warrant for the leader’s alleged war crimes in Gaza — which the US doesn’t recognize.
Netanyahu, however, remains unhazed by the threats.
In a recent radio appearance, he accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising.
“He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values,” the PM said during an interview this week with Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC.
“Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on earth, that conducted that horrible massacre [on Oct. 7, 2023], the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust.”
He also claimed Mamdani “doesn’t care” that “those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America.”
“And in fact I think secretly, he hates America,” the PM said.
Netanyahu is also expected to visit DC later this month to meet with President Donald Trump.
He was initially scheduled to arrive this weekend, but postponed the visit after Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral was pushed back to accommodate the flood of national and international dignitaries seeking to attend.
It would mark Netanyahu’s first trip to Washington since the Iran war began on 28 February this year.
*PHOTO CAPTION:Mamdani…at a press conference.
